God Is Looking For Partnership

God is looking for partnership. He is searching for a co-laboring from His people.
Without His help we can’t engage with Kingdom assignments.
And without us He won’t.

It’s something to think about.

What are the ways we are partnering with the work Jesus wants accomplished this side of eternity?

Conduct Over Conversation

 

It's something I've been discussing more and more as of late.

People need Jesus.

And they will absolutely be more convinced of this need when they see His followers behaving in ways that are more consistent with His character.

It's not what we say that has the most lasting affect on others. It is not the conversation we keep, but our conduct that most adequately preaches the Good News.

Standing Still Is Not Inactivity

Exodus 14, verses 13 and 14, could quite possibly be the most misinterpreted verses in all of scripture.  For me, at times, they has been at least.

“Moses answered the people, "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again.  The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still."

There seems to be as sort of “permission” for idleness here.  This grant given for inaction.

My niece recently got her wisdom teeth removed.
The education given by the clinic was fairly straightforward and the instructions were pretty clear that she would likely need to spend 1-2 days in rest following her surgical procedure.  The doctor told us that she would, “be sore” and should “reduce her activity for the next 24-48 hours.”

Somehow 7 days later I was still hearing my niece remind me that she was to be, “taking it easy”, however it was long after healing should have been well under way.  I was having a hard time believing that continued “rest” was necessary.  Or helpful even.  In my opinion, an increase of mobility would serve best, and a return to “normal activities” would speed up the process of restoration.

And yet sometimes we’re like that, aren’t we?
We get sluggish, lethargic, stagnant, even, and we justify it with scriptures that say things like, “you only need to be still.”

We wrongfully assume that being “still” means doing nothing.  And yet in Kingdom living we may be incorrect to assume such prescriptive assignment.

According to Charles Spurgeon on this topic, he says there are 4, “evil advisers” to extraordinary difficulties.  They are despair, cowardice, precipitancy, and presumption.  Despair tells us to give up.  Cowardice tells us that it’s time to retreat, this way of Christian living is too difficult.  Precipitancy says to execute with impatience, too quickly rushing to action that often leads to regret.  And Presumption tells us to behave with arrogance and overzealous confidence, that often is the result of “getting ahead of God” and assuming just because something worked once a specific way, it it sure to be the outcome again.

And all of this advice would be harmful.

Spurgeon’s words are this, “Faith listens neither to presumption or despair, nor cowardice, not precipitancy… but hears God say, ‘stand still’.  Keep the posture of an upright man, ready for action, expecting further orders, cheerfully and patiently awaiting the directing voice, and it will not be long God shall say to you, as distinctly as Moses said to the people of Israel, ‘Go forward.’”

So perhaps, “being still” has it’s directive.  It’s charge.  It’s responsibility.
To keep the posture of readiness.  To expect further orders.  To cheerfully and patiently wait on the voice of God.
Maybe it’s finding ways to serve in your season of stillness and rest.
Maybe it’s an increase of prayer time - the moments that bring me to my knees in surrender.
Maybe it’s keeping an active Gratitude Journal to keep aware of God’s goodness and faithfulness.

While there ARE battles we are called to “sit out” due to the threat of eminent danger, there are times where “being still” requires an alertness on our part.  Movement of muscles that risk atrophy if we stay sedentary for too long.

Pause as long as only necessary to recharge inwardly, receive instruction, and reset initiatives.

Standing still is not inactivity.

I Will Deliver You

Psalm 91:14-16 in the KJV says this, “Because he hath set his love upon Me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known My name.  He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.”

The word that appears twice here is the word DELIVER in verse 14 and 15.  However, there is different meaning of each word.

In verse 14 the word “deliver” means, “to step out; escape.”
In verse 15 the word “deliver” means, “to pull off, equip, strengthen.”

Why is this so important?

The promise is, “I will deliver.”
Yet how many of us know that often times it doesn’t quite feel as though we have escaped or been helped to “step out of” any hard circumstance?

The second word “deliver” can be likened to being lifted out of a pit, or dragging up out of the midst of anything that surrounds a person, and then settling him in some place of safety.

Sometimes God chooses to deliver us by taking the burden off our backs, and yet other times He makes us strong enough to carry it.

My commentary says, “The serpent may still wound our heel, but if God be with us He will give us strength to press the wounded heel on the malignant head, and we can squeeze all the poison out of it.”

Though His mode of operation may differ, He never gives leaves us without the sweet promise that one way or another… He will be with us!

Kingdom Characteristics

When John the Baptist… the forerunner of Jesus… asked the question, it really stopped my in my tracks.

John was a passionate preacher who called for people to repent and be baptized to make ready the coming of the Messiah.  His assignment was to prepare for the “great and dreadful day of the Lord.”  (Mal 4:5)

As a part of his mission work, John, filled with Holy Spirit, called everyone to be baptized, even reluctantly baptizing Jesus who he considered his superior, the One who would, “baptize with Holy Spirit and fire.”  (John 1:33)

John was arrested (Matt 4:12), and in chapter 11 we discover that he was in prison when he sends his disciples to Jesus asking Him “Are you the Messiah we’ve been expecting or should we keep looking for someone else?”  (11:3)

Can’t you just feel his grief?
Can’t you just sense his weariness?  His exhaustion?
Because sometimes rescue doesn’t look the way we expected.
Sometimes comfort isn’t revealed through customary techniques.

John was experiencing disappointment and frustration, perhaps like we do, because the works he had heard of were not the kind he had expected the Messiah to perform.

Jesus had His own mode of operation which was uncommon and unconventional.
Jesus often:

• was slow and deliberate in action
• went against the grain
• was informal
• disregarded “popular opinion”
• was positive in nature and response
• challenged His hearers
• offered seemingly bizarre solutions
• seemed dismissive

I can imagine that John wondered why such passive inactivity was part of Messianic work of the Savior they had long awaited.  While John was fixated on his personal expectation that the coming of Jesus would include judgment in Israel and a swinging axe bringing ultimate destruction of years of evil, Jesus helped beggars, engaged with un-influentional sinners, and challenged the mindset of, then, heroic religious leaders.

In his own distress, discomfort, disappointment, and disillusionment, John missed the Kingdom characteristics he’d been employed to prepare hearts for.  “…One who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”  (Luke 3:16)

The work of Jesus is often shrouded in mystery. 
We cannot always know how He will perform in a particular situation or in a specific season, but we do have to trust that He knows best and is working everything out for our ultimate good and His ultimate glory.  (Phil 2:13)

My commentary says this, “Jesus chose His methods of action and is saying, ‘Blessed is he who understands the characteristic features of the Kingdom and can rejoice with them.  Blessed is he who understands that the most penetrating, lastingly efficacious powers in the world are forgiveness, tenderness, and pitiful ministering to the common wants.’”

His process may not look the way we had expected it to.
Provision might not come in the form or fashion we anticipated.
But know this: He is working.  He never stops fighting for you and for me.

When things seem like setback, when the world looks to be all against us, we must not allow that depressive state to cloud our perception of Kingdom characteristics.

Be on the lookout for His faithfulness today!
Where is He standing in your mess?
What ways is He using even this to draw you in closer to Him?

He is always good - and you are forever loved!

What We See is What We Seek

John the Baptist, who was imprisoned, heard all about the things Jesus was doing.  So he sent his personal disciples to ask the Messiah if He was, indeed, the One they had been looking for.  Was He the predicted Son of Man, or should they be looking for someone else?

Jesus responds to the band of men sent to inquire of Him, “Tell John what you have heard and seen.  The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor.”  (Matt 11:4-5)

As John’s disciples were leaving, Jesus began talking to the crowds and He says this, “What kind of man did you go into the wilderness to see?  Was he a weak reed, swayed by every breath of wind?  Or were you expecting to see a man dressed in expensive clothes?”  (vss 7-8).  He continued in verse 9, “Were you looking for a prophet?  Yes, and he is more than a prophet.”

My Kenneth Wuest translation of the New Testament uses these phrases in place of the ones found in my NLT, “What did you go out into the uninhabited place to be contemplating as a spectacle… What did you go out to see… Why did you go out?”

He asks the crowd of onlookers, “What did you go out to see anyway?  What were you expecting to behold?  Who were you looking for?  What was the purpose for your seeking?

And I think He’s asking us the same thing.

When we attend to political debates and heated arguments concerning the condition of our nation - what is our motive?  A scuffle or a solution?
When we disagree with someone else’s viewpoint or oppose a decision made by another that doesn’t correspond with our standard of living - what is our intention?  Shame or solidarity?

Do we come in looking for a fight or do we come in seeking unification?

What we are looking for is just as important as what we see.
It tells a lot about where our focus lies and what kind of confidence we have in the One who desires to be sought out at all cost.

My commentary says this, “God requires no more from us than the right use of faculties He has given us.”

And so the question becomes the same for me, What am I expecting to see?  Why am I going?
The answers tell a lot about my personal character, and my spiritual condition.
What am I expecting will be the result of my searching and seeking and seeing?

What we are looking for matters.
What we see is the result of what we seek.

Do Whatever I Consider To Be Right

I was with my Zoom Bible Study class last week and we were studying through 1 Kings 11.

There was a man who stood to inherit a great deal of power and Divine influence if he obeyed God and remained faithful to His commands.

This could-be leader of the northern tribes of Israel was in a position to receive greater nobility and the establishment of an enduring dynasty because of the sin of Solomon that enabled a transfer of blessing.

The order given by God to Jeroboam was this, “If you listen to what I tell you and follow My ways and do whatever I consider to be right, and if you obey My decrees and commands, as My servant David did..”

God would be with Jeroboam and would certainly fulfill His promise of presence and blessing, but there were conditions to be met.

IF you listen.
IF you follow My ways.
IF you do whatever I consider to be right.
IF you obey My commands.

And perhaps there are three in the list that seem very familiar and workable.
Listen.
Follow.
Obey.

But there’s one there in the middle I wonder about.
“Do whatever I consider to be right.”

It’s the one that stood out to me more than the others.

Because in my flesh I do whatever I consider to be right.
Me.
In my selfishness I assume what is right.

And the truth really is that “my right” is not “your right.”
What’s right to me is not what might be right for someone else.
We all have different standards and morals and value systems.

And so maybe it’s why He said it like that.
And He says the same thing to you and me today.

I might believe that my response is right - but what does God say?
What is HIS standard of grace?
What would Jesus do?
How would He react?

And maybe that’s how the world - now more than ever - needs to be responding to fear and disunity and grief.  Maybe instead of offering our opinion and suggesting empty outlooks that actually present a demoralizing view, we start extending godly solutions that begin with the consideration of doing whatever HE considers right.  Of behaving in ways that cause us to look more like Him and less like the world we’re trying to make better anyway.

Maybe it’s time we rise up and begin putting into practice that which we claim is our highest standard of living.  To… DO whatever HE considers to be right.

It might not be easy.
It might not be popular.
It might not be accepted or respected.
It might come with a degree of risk.
It might be uncomfortable.
But following Jesus - and doing whatever God considers to be right - is always, ALWAYS the better choice.

Be On Watch

1 Kings 11.
It’s a sad story.
Probably one of the saddest in all of scripture.
It’s about Solomon and his fall from God’s graces.
Poor decisions.
Doing evil in the Lord’s sight.
And ultimate removal of kingdom inheritance.

God speaks in verses 14-26 about 3 adversaries that he places in the life of Solomon.
Hadad - a member of Edom’s royal family who had mostly been defeated by Solomon’s dad, King David, and was out for revenge as he was one of the only survivors of that clan.
Rezon was the second adversary who had become the leader of a gang of rebels who hated Israel intensely.

But the third adversary was a man named Jeroboam.
And take a look at scripture.
Verse 26 tells us that Jeroboam was, “one of Solomon’s own officials.”

Somehow in all my studying I had missed this altogether!

Jeroboam… the one God would use as an adversary to bring down Solomon, came from within Solomon’s own camp.

Look at the word adversary.  According to my bible dictionary it actually means, “satan” or “devil.”  The definition continues, “an antagonist, an enemy who fights determinedly, continuously, and relentlessly.”

And this one came within his own camp.

In one of my flower beds in the front of our house we have a little critter who has been making quite a fuss all season long. 
Every evening I spend time cleaning up the garden beds… pulling weeds, tending to overgrowth, and readjusting mulch that gets shifted with the winds during the day.
And I was noticing every morning that there was a slight “disturbance” in the soil at one particular place in one particular bed just outside of our front door.
At first I would simply clean it up thinking it was the sprinkler system that had skewed the stone and mulch, but then I realized it was more than that, and soon discovered it was, in fact, a chipmunk who was happily making his home under the dirt at night.  What I was seeing was the result of him waking up and leaving the spot for the day!

The upset was happening within our own property.
The disorder was coming from within our own camp.

Friends… not everyone is for you.
Not everyone is on your side.
Sometimes they serve as a purpose to be an adversary… a devil… an antagonist.
And sometimes we unknowingly let them win.

It doesn’t mean we have to be suspicious of people.
It doesn’t mean we go out hunting for these devils.
But it does mean we must keep on guard against those who’s purpose is to fight against us determinedly, continuously, and relentlessly.
Because remember - the enemy’s goal is to steal, kill, and destroy.

And so we must be on watch against anything that serves to take our gaze off Jesus.

His Purpose And Our Potential

1 Kings 11 contains one of the saddest stories in all of scripture.
The fall of King Solomon.
The second son of David, the one who worshipped the Lord, consulted of the Lord, and wrote most of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs.

When Solomon was asked what he wanted from the Lord, He asked for wisdom.  He didn’t ask for a long life, wealth, or fame, but for wisdom, and when he did, God granted him all of it.  The request of wisdom and the unspoken advantages too.
But we read it that Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines.  And in an effort to please his wives, he allowed their negative influence to impact his life’s choices, surrendering to the worship of false gods… a sin detestable to the Lord.

We read about the devastation in verse 3 - “they turned his heart away from the Lord.”  In verse 6 - “Solomon did what was evil in the Lord’s sight.”

And we read it again in verse 9, likely the harshest read of them all - “The Lord was very angry with Solomon, for his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice.”

Because of his disobedience, and his turning from the Lord and His ways, God raised up 3 adversaries to Solomon.

One was a man named Jeroboam.

And the bible tells us that a prophet appeared to Jeroboam and told him of the Lord’s plan.
He would inherit 10 of the tribes for himself, while removing all but one from Solomon as a form of punishment for disobedience.
Upon Solomon’ death Jeroboam would gain power and control, ultimately ruling over, “all that {his} heart desired.”  (vs 37)

And these were the conditions of God’s blessing:

• If you listen to Me.
• If you follow My ways.
• If you do what I consider right.
• If you obey My commands.

The promise then was:

• God would be with him.
• God would establish to him an enduring dynasty.
• He would gain all of Israel.

It is important to note that there was no “goodness” we can find in the life of Jeroboam.
God made a great promise to this sin-filled man, regardless of his worth.

God, in His lovingkindness, gave Jeroboam a wonderful opportunity by means of grace and unconditional love, to make himself great like David.
Remember David was God’s chosen vessel… the one he called, “a man after My own heart.”  And the promises He had made to David were to stand forever. 

Psalm 132:17 tells us that, “Here I will increase the power of David My anointed one will be a light for My people.”
David was to have a light in Jerusalem always.
And if not through his son, now turned evil, it would be tried through an unlikely man - Jeroboam.

But we know the rest of the story.
Jeroboam dishonored God, and lost the offer to inherit the 10 tribes.

But take note - knowing what kind of man he would later become by way of sin didn’t lesson or discount the extended offer to become the kind of man he COULD BE.

He had all that was necessary by way of provision from God to be the next, “man after God’s own heart.”  He had within Him a call that qualified him, but no integrity to step into God’s glorious plan.

Ahh - but looking at this story gives me great hope.
And it should you too!

Because God doesn’t call us based on merit or worth.
He calls us based on value and potential.
He sees what’s possible.
He sees our potential.
And He says - if you do what I ask, I will make you great!

The question we must continue to wrestle with is this: What kinds of opportunities is God extending to you, and in what ways can you truly honor and glorify Him by becoming the person He believes you to be and designed you to be?

I believe we honor Him the best when we become all He has purposed us to be.
By saying yes.
By obeying His Word.
By doing what He says.

He’s promised the same to you and me.  “I will be with you.”
And there’s simply nothing this side of eternity better than that!

God extends opportunities to us based on His purpose and our potential.

If The Ants Can Do It, So Can We!

I was in my garage yesterday when I was literally stopped in my tracks over something happening just beneath my feet. And if I hadn’t been paying attention, I would have missed it altogether. If I hadn’t been alert enough, I might have inadvertently ruined the glorious work of a very busy insect.
I don’t know if I can say whether I’ve seen this before or not. If I have, I don’t remember.
But it is an image I will not too soon forget.

Two ants.
One fully alive.
One fully deceased.
One busily working to carry the fatally injured one somewhere. And in a hurry.
I actually had to grab my phone quickly in an effort to capture them before they disappeared.

And I would read about them this morning.
“This is a very interesting subject in regards to one of the busiest insects in the animal kingdom. When the ants carry their dead back to their colonies, they dump them to their personal waste disposal area which is the midden.”

Image this?
One of God’s smallest creatures carefully tending to another of his kind with enormous care and precision?

And what was even more amazing to me was that the healthy ant stopped periodically along the way to lay his brother down and fidget a bit. It seriously emulated a distress cry, as though he was literally pausing to mourn and grieve the loss of his buddy.

My Google search resulted in one article that ended with these words, it’s like we are witnessing the “carrying a dear friend back to his home.”

How amazing is this?
I can’t be the only one who finds this fascinating??

And it got me thinking.
Because we’re all just carrying each other home.

Even the seemingly small and insignificant lives of an ant see the importance of connection and care. The tiniest of God’s design recognizes the requirement for tenderness and comfort.

And in their gravest condition, in their most wounded predicament, the compassion extended is the most beautiful thing. It is a final love offering. A gift they gently bestow upon their companion.

Who do you need to reach out to to offer help today?
Who do you need to love more gently today?
Who needs to be reminded that they're not alone?
Who needs to be carried today, because the race has physically exhausted them?
What burdens can you lift for another today?

Be a friend.
Love big.
Serve well.
Give generously.
Forgive mistakes.

We’re all… every one of us… just walking each other home.

Let’s make the journey lighter and more full of ridiculous joy, can we?

If the ants can do this honor thing well… so can we.

Keep Looking To Him!

It really is all about the subject of our focus.
If our eyes are always looking to what's wrong, what's disappointing, what’s heartbreaking, what’s difficult, what’s suspicious, then we are dangerously susceptible to a plunge into the pit.

But when our eyes are fully fixated on Jesus… when we insist on renewing our mind with the finished work of the cross and when we rightly consider all that He graciously suffered and died for us to possess… we remain in a place of absolute safety.

When we aim straight at Him with our gaze, we run straight into His arms securely!

We cannot afford to look anywhere else than into His loving face!

Your Transient Trial

1 Peter 5:10 says this, “In His kindness, God called you to share in His eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus.  So after you have suffered a little while, He will restore, support, and strengthen you, and He will place you on a firm foundation.”  (NLT)

The King James Version says it like this, “… after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.”

Ahh.. the result of suffering in the Christ follower is to establish “stablish” us, strengthen us, and settle us.  Charles Spurgeon uses the words to be, “established, settled, and abiding.”  And notice these all come “after we have suffered a while."  The NASB says, “a LITTLE while”, which can be translated to mean, “puny or small.”

The Passion Translation calls it “brief suffering”, while the Aramaic calls is, “slight suffering”, which means something that is “temporary.”

Peter uses this at the beginning of the epistle that bears his name in chapter 1, verse 6.  The KJV describes those to whom the apostle is addressing here as those in a “season of heaviness.”

And maybe you find yourself there too.  In a season of heaviness?

There’s good news!

Not only are those who know Jesus as their personal Savior, “called unto His eternal glory by Christ Jesus”, we have the promise that, “after we have suffered a ‘little’ while, He will make us perfect” and will, “stablish, strengthen, and settle” us.

After these puny setbacks… these small difficulties… God, who is filled with all grace, will establish us, settle us, and strengthen us so we can abide with Him.

The word establish means a foundation laid well.
The word settled means to fix, set, and to stabilize.
The word abiding means to continue without change, to endure, and steadfastly remain.

God is in the business of taking that which seems broken and bringing it back to full and complete usefulness.  He delights in invigorating that which is lifeless.

He will take our present suffering and use it to build something solid and secure.  He will seize the broken fragments of our current condition to create a well-laid foundation that is fixed and steady and secure, and eventually develop us to be so strengthened that we abide with great confidence and withstand faithfully to the end.  Oh that we might be able to say we, “ran our race with endurance the race that lied before us.”  (Heb 12:1)

He is a good good Father who is making all things new.  Yes even your present suffering!  Great hardship for Him is never in vain.

God is transforming your transient trial.

The Warning and The Promise

Matthew 10:16-20.  The words of Jesus.  It’s a warning and a promise.
“Look, I am sending you out as sheep among wolves. So be as shrewd as snakes and harmless as doves.  But beware! For you will be handed over to the courts and will be flogged with whips in the synagogues.  You will stand trial before governors and kings because you are My followers. But this will be your opportunity to tell the rulers and other unbelievers about Me.  When you are arrested, don’t worry about how to respond or what to say. God will give you the right words at the right time.  For it is not you who will be speaking—it will be the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.”

Take a look back at the word “will” found all throughout this portion of scripture.
you WILL be handed over to the courts.
you WILL be flogged with whips in the synagogues.
you WILL stand trial before governors and kings.

Not such great news.
These are things Jesus is asking His disciples to be aware of.  Things they could count on to happen.
And it doesn’t sound much different for us.
We WILL be handed over to the courts.  Meaning we will be unnecessarily go through rejection and unfair treatment.
We WILL be flogged with whips.  Maybe not physically, but indeed figuratively speaking, we will endure painful hardships and mistreatment that is hurtful and damaging.  (Note, the word “flogged” here means to sell, promote, publicize.)
We WILL stand trial.  We will be falsely accused and be made to stand up for our faith.

These are what I call the “will” statements of these verses.
They are promises.
What the disciples of Jesus had to suffer, we must, alike, suffer as well.

Ahh… but look at the rest of the story.  More “will”’s…
this WILL be your opportunity to tell the rulers and other unbelievers about Jesus.
God WILL give the right words to us at the right time.
it’s not us speaking - it WILL be the Spirit of the Father speaking through us.

Wow.

The word WILL means this = am about to or going to, willing to, determined to, sure to, to purpose.

While these things WILL happen to us… they are determined to… God WILL work on our behalf… He will propose to!  For us! 

Amen?!

There is always the good news of Jesus to celebrate!!

The Passion Translation calls this in verse 16, “hazardous work” Jesus is assigning us to.  This means that it is full of risk, and it is dangerous.

But it goes on to say this, “Don’t be upset when they haul you before the civil authorities.  Without knowing it, they’ve done you - and Me - a favor, given you a platform for preaching the kingdom news."

So good.

This is SO GOOD, friends!!!

When we experience pain and suffering - which we WILL - we are simply being afforded the opportunity to let His light shine brighter in and through us.  We WILL be given a platform in which to glorify Him!

And this is the best news I’ve heard in a long time!

You too?

It's Time To Rebuild

Elijah said it when it was his turn to call upon his God - the one true God of Israel - at the contest on Mount Carmel that he organized.

After allowing the prophets of Baal their attempt at calling on their “god”, he said to the crowd looking on, “Come over here”, and scripture tells us that he, “took twelve stones, one to represent each of the tribes of Israel, and he used the stones to rebuild the altar in the name of the Lord.”  (1 Kings 18:32)

The altar had been destroyed by those calling on a false god.
The altar had been poorly mistreated by ill-fated imposters.

And it was, indeed, time to rebuild.
And do so, “in the name of the Lord.”

And it got me thinking.
In my own life.
What needs to be rebuilt, “in the name of the Lord.”?

We see it all the time - His glorious name being destroyed, and His reputation being compromised.
So many times I am tempted to say to onlookers… those who don't yet know Jesus for themselves… and say, “I am sorry.  What you’ve been shown is not indicative of all Jesus people.”

And so maybe it’s time to rebuild.
And do so, “in the name of the Lord.”

I am going to restore broken relationships… in the name of the Lord.
I am going to use my voice more to worship my Savior… in the name of the Lord.
I am going to respect and honor leadership despite unworthiness… in the name of the Lord.
I am going to forgive the hurt and pain they caused… in the name of the Lord.
I am going to joyfully serve when it’s hardest to do so… in the name of the Lord.

I DO have control over what is constructed and I WILL rebuild in the name of the Lord!

What needs rebuilding in your life?

Make the decision today to do it… in the name of the Lord.
And then watch Him do the work that only He can do.
And when others “see for themselves”… this glorious provision from the Lord, they will claim Him for themselves.  Because He really is that irresistible.
“And when the people saw it, they fell face down on the ground and cried out, ‘The Lord - He is God!  Yes the Lord is God!”  (18:39)

Quit Multiplying Arguments

Elijah the prophet.  Sent to demonstrate the Lord and call Israel back to Him.

And we would see him do it in an unusual way.

Summoned to the house of King Ahab, a troublemaker who had refused to obey the Lord, and led his family and followers in the worshipping of false gods, Elijah holds a contest on Mount Carmel.

The contest was to prove who’s “god” was indeed the one true God.

The prophets of Baal went first, but to no avail.  Even after full preparation of a sacrificed bull, a heartfelt cry that lasted morning to night, dancing and hobbling around the alter they had made, loud shouts, cutting themselves with knives and swords until scripture tells us that, “blood gushed out” (1 Kings 18:28), there was still no response from their “god”, and no evidence of powerful presence and rescue.

But of course we know the rest of the story.
Elijah repairs the altar, “in the name of the Lord” (18:32), and ultimately calls to his God, the only one and true God of Israel, and He shows up in a powerful and magnificent way!  (18:38)

Elijah’s weapon is prayer.  And his decisive manner is a convergence upon common ground.

Instead of giving in to an empty exchange of insults, he chooses to appropriately apply God’s healing salve to the souls of the despairing heathens.  Instead of multiplying arguments that lead only to false security and increased irritation, he allows God’s strength to speak for itself.

My commentary says this, “Use the invincible weapon of prayer; show the heavens opened and the gracious rain descending upon all broken hearts, and bringing the blessings of a full redemption. Give to our generation this conclusive practical evidence. This is the surest means of casting down the idol into the dust, without having recourse to that exterminating sword which the prophet of the old covenant was commanded to draw upon the idolatrous priests. We live under another dispensation, and ours is that sword of the Spirit which only wounds to heal.”

We are living in a retaliating world where we remain insistent upon meeting sword for sword.  In a weak and feeble effort to “stand our ground” and “believe in the victory of our cause”, we misrepresent the gentleness of the Lord and the lamblike conduct of our Jesus.  And in that way, we risk zero conversions and continue behaving with deplorable practical atheism.

This world needs a Savior, not a sword.
This world needs a Defender, not a debate.
This world needs an example of love and grace and peace.
And we win them to Jesus not by war but witness.

Let’s quit multiplying arguments that only result in division as we seek to properly represent the Lord.

“They will know us by our love.”  (John 13:35),  not by our offensiveness, and our debating of matters that pale in comparison to, “the to the glory he will reveal to us later.”  (Rom 8:18)

His Radiance!

Exodus 34:29 tells us that when Moses came down Mount Sinai carrying the two stone tablets inscribed with the terms of the covenant God made with His people, Israel, “he wasn’t aware that his face had become radiant because he had spoken to the Lord.”

I love this passage of scripture for so many reasons.

For one, Moses wasn't aware that divine presence had directly impacted his physical appearance. 
And that tells us something.
It tells us that Moses’ time with God was authentic.  It wasn’t just “for show.”
How do we know this?  Because, “he wasn’t aware” of it.
His time with the Lord was a genuine desire for intimacy and seemed to contain within it, no arrogance or hypocrisy. 

For another, his acquaintance with the Lord was made evident by onlookers.  “So when Aaron and the people of Israel saw the radiance of Moses’ face” they were afraid to come near him.”  (vs 30)  The word “afraid” here means “to revere.”

The time he spent with the Father was evident for all to see.
It changed his countenance… his expression, his demeanor, his composure, and his conduct.
Everything was altered by association.

Moses knew and experienced the level of closeness that few apprehended for themselves though they had the same degree of opportunity.

Moses kept near to God.  He remained near enough to feel His touch, hear His voice, and see His face. 

And in doing so, He became the champion of confidence, the hero of faith that inspired an entire company of people who desperately desired a reminder of goodness and grace.  An entire nation who deeply needed the promise of hope and certainty.

Because of His nearness to the God of the universe, Moses was able to successfully carry a measure of His presence into the valley, where the people had lost their way.  He was able to victoriously step into a tainted atmosphere, bringing with Him the radiant glow that held within it the ability to transform destiny's.

Never forget the significant influence that presence has on the lives of others that results from your investment of time spent with the Father.  Because of you, lost people who have remained stuck in the valley will behold your radiant glow, and be forever changed by the reality of that luminance.

Keep near to Jesus.  And when you do you will carry His radiance wherever you go… and others will be drawn to the light and kept alive by it’s warmth.

The Enemy's Tactics to Tempt

As I was praying the other day for a circumstance happening in our lives that we have absolutely no control over, I began to think about the way the enemy works and how his tactics are often successful.

I would say it in a text to a loved one facing unknown external difficulties:  “Jesus loves you.  He’s for you and not against you.  You’ve survived rougher things than this.  You are an overcomer.  The enemy would love you to remain in fear.  That makes you vulnerable, useless, and driven by panic that keeps you from hope and trust.  Believe that the best is yet to come.  Remember God is for you and you cannot fail.”

The way the enemy works is that he tempts us by altering out outward circumstances.  He uses things like setback, heartbreak, loss, devastation, an unknown future, difficulty, disappointment, and lack, to bring us to ultimate destruction.  By shifting our gaze, even momentarily, on these things, he has us right where he wants us!

He knows that if he can be successful in getting us focused on what’s wrong, what’s unfair, what’s blameworthy, what’s unjust… it will eventually lead to distrust in a good God who is for us and never against us, and will ultimately put us at risk of His protective presence.

We will be like Samson was, in the Old Testament, “When he woke up he thought, ‘I will do as before and shake myself free.’  But he didn’t realize the Lord had left him.”  (Judges 16:20)

When we allow ourselves to be distracted by the temptation of our real enemy, we run the risk of losing the security of God’s abiding presence that brings superlative protection over our soul.

Don't be give in to the temptation of disappointing circumstances ordered by the enemy to keep us in a slow and steady spiritual decline. 

Fix your gaze, instead, upon Jesus.

Go With The Strength You Have

I know you’re weary.
I know you’re tired.
I know they’ve hurt you.
I know it’s painful.
I know the road looks difficult.
I know the assignment seems impossible.

I know.
I get it.
It is the same for me.

But when we read the words of scripture, we find hope.

And I saw it there in print.
And the words wouldn’t stop playing over in my head.

It was the call of Gideon.
A task too difficult to image.
In the midst of challenging circumstances.
And in a desperate imprisonment of sorts.
Bleak and trying times.

The Lord would send an angel to do his bidding for him first.
“Mighty hero, the Lord is with you.” He’d say.  (Judges 6:12)

But Gideon had questions before he would readily surrender.
He would pose doubt before dependence.

And so in the next visit, God Himself appeared.
And turning to Him God said, “Go with the strength you have… I am sending you.”  (Judges 6:15)

Ahh… go with the strength you have.
He didn’t have much.
Hardly any.

But the call was clear.
“Hey mighty hero… go with the strength you have.”
In other words, “You might not have much strength within you now, but use what you’ve got and I will supply you by and by with what you need.”
Your central obligation is obedience.
He has entrusted you with His power.
You were, after all, created in His image.
And you have more within you than you realize.

Go with the strength you have.
It may be a mustard seed today, but a towering topiary tomorrow!

Go.
March on dear soldier.
With.
“on the side of; in connection; noting confidence; among; upon.”
The strength.
What little you do have… what God has placed within you for growth and multiplication.

Be brave.  Take the step into your calling.  Do big things with little strength and then watch Him do in and through you what only He can do!

Go, mighty hero, with the strength you have!

MIghty Hero The Lord Is With You

 

In the midst of a 7 years captivity in the hands of the evil Midianites, Gideon was, "called by God" while threshing wheat at the bottom of a winepress to hide the grain from the people he was imprisoned by.

Scripture tells us that one day an angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon and said, "Mighty hero, the Lord is with you." (6:12)

I love this.

Because it is very likely that he felt anything but.

Israel was being oppressed by Midian as they were in a punishment season issued by the Lord for their disobedience.

And my guess is that Gideon felt many things, but confidence was not one of them.

Yet the angel calls him a, "mighty hero."

Ahh... because isn't that JUST like our God to speak to our potential?

And Gideon was being given the task of rescuing Israel. As difficult as it seemed, Gideon was given the order to destroy the alter his Father had made to Baal and reestablish proper worship to God. In doing so, Gideon became a warrior for God against false gods.

If we read the rest of the story about the man of God, we discover that no army recruiter had greater success than Gideon as 32,000 men responded to his call to take down the Midianites in battle. God, though, directed him to reduce the number to eventually 300 men. Gideon led these men against and overwhelming force and, indeed, became a, "mighty hero."

Remember we have the benefit of viewing the entirety of the Word of God. We can see the full story unfold. But for Gideon, he was living the story AS it unfolded. And this prophetic statement served to be true of our once weak man of God.

God speaks to my potential, and yours. He calls us mighty and strong and loved. He calls us to fight battles He's already given us victory over because He believes in our capacity for greatness... He put it there in the first place!

Isn't it just like our God to speak to our potential before an impossible assignment?

Yes!

It really is!

I Shall Watch Him Work

From the archives...

I have learned so much over the years from people God has strategically placed in my life.

I read it in a text she had sent me last month as I was going through a pretty intense battle in my physical body.

It's like she knew exactly what I needed to hear.
And she might not have... but God did.

And it meant so much more coming from the one who knew a bit about suffering. She, who had endured torment in her physical body for over a year with a horrible cancer diagnosis, was now bringing life and encouragement to me.

She said the words my heart needed.
We were talking about getting together for dinner and she said it, "We will WATCH Him work!"

Oh there's no way she could've known that is my word for the year.

Watch.

Because after almost a full year of "waiting", God had so graciously and so kindly given me my word for 2019... "Watch."

And I have been watching Him work all year long!
In more ways than I can ever describe to you!

But what was most powerful was her enormous faith.

We will "watch Him work."

There was expectation in that one line text.
Such faith.
Such trust in the One who holds everything in the palm of His hand.

And I wonder how many frustrations would melt away if we offered up this kind of confidence and reassurance every day of our lives?
I wonder how many giants of fear and anxiety would be destroyed by this kind of certainty in His power and surety in His willingness?

Oh we could all use a fresh dose of faith, couldn't we?

How about we begin today by saying, "I shall WATCH Him Work!"

I am already looking so forward to seeing His heart and Hand!

Keep Your Eyes On Jesus

Hebrews 12:2 says this, “We do this {strip off every weight that slows us down, and run the race with endurance} by keeping our eyes on Jesus…”

And if there was one thing I could say to you today it would be this: keep your eyes on Jesus.

It’s the answer for everything we face.

In the midst of a global pandemic… keep your eyes on Jesus.
When you’re confused and don’t know what to do… keep your eyes on Jesus.
In trying and most difficult circumstances… keep your eyes on Jesus.
When people hurt you and disappoint you, again…. keep your eyes on Jesus.

Our endurance will depend completely on our keeping our eyes on Jesus.
Our success and ultimate victory over the enemy’s schemes of destruction is entirely contingent upon our willingness and determination to stay exclusively focused on Jesus.  On what He is doing and what He is saying.

It has long been one of the enemy’s main tactics to shift our gaze from our faithful Savior to our deplorable circumstances.

I overheard a conversation a couple weeks ago surrounding the pandemic, and even listening to the words deflated my spirit.  Instead of focusing on the finished work of Jesus, we often content ourselves with remaining crucifixion-centered in our mindset… viewing life through the lens of torture and not victory.  Distress and not defeat.

When you and I purposefully choose to behold Jesus, our filter is adjusted for everything we see.  Suddenly what was impossible is now imaginable.  What was despair is now comfort.  What was loss is now gain.  What was discouragement is now hope.

Everything changes when we behold the One who died to show the world how much He loved us.

Keep your eyes on Jesus!